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A Wilderness Adventure — Page 7

D'you know Juneau? Sailed into Alaska's capitol city of Juneau on a wet, blustery day to take in some whale watching.

A humpback whale's tail, misted by the spout of a fellow traveler

With a few free hours in the morning, Cherie and I roamed the city streets, toured the capitol building, and had breakfast at the Capitol Cafe along Franklin Street, below
	St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, left, is the oldest Russian Othodox church in Alaska, dating back to 1893. Its octagonal shape is a city landmark. The state capitol building, right, is not one of America's most impressive state capitols, and its small legislative chambers reflect a sparse population The humid climate breeds many moss-covered roofs in town, below

Nature Cruise 'Twas off to the sea to seek some of the most majestic animals off the Alaskan coast
	Cherie bundled up in her new parka to keep the chill out of the bones, and bless her soul, she braved the elements rather than watch from the comfort of the cabin. She loves to watch whales, which probably explains why she still loves me, and even enjoys listening to them blow steam, which, again, explains our good marriage.

Cyndi, Cherie, and I are all eyes, some of us four-eyes (actually, come to think of it, six-eyes) as we watch the eagles perching and soaring among the islands off shore. Since salmon season was rapidly approaching, the eagles were gathering in areas where the big fish were staging for their upriver spawning treks

Eight eagles sit atop pine trees lining an island

Eagle Rock—like all Alaskan explorers, we get to name landmarks as we discover them—lies along an off-shore channel. Layers of color, from the water's slippery silver, to yellow mossy ferns, to slate-gray rocks, to the eagles brown bodys and white heads, and to the tiers of green pine, add a vertical dimension to the horizon's march

Thar she blows! The tell-tell spout of the humpbacks direct our boat's captain to the site of a pod of whales hunting near an island. The boat's crew lowered a microphone in the water so we could listen to the song of the whales, and vocal activity increased when the lead whale, a female, spewed an underwater "bubble net" to trap small fish, which the whales consumed with open mouths as they surged to the surface, below.

Above, On the cruise ship we were treated to the unusual sight of a humpback whale "breaching," or completely jumping and twisting out of the water. We weren't that fortunate on the whale-watching boat, but enjoyed the sight of the pod swimming and fishing at sea. Left, we also came across a pair of orcas, or killer whales, frolicking in the choppy waters.

After a day of walking, wind, waves, and wintry weather, us eagle-eyed explorers were ready for a relaxing evening on the ship

Wine, Women, and Song Who Could Ask for More?

The cruise offered an on-board wine tasting featuring a menu of nectars from around the world. The matre-de led a discussion of each glass, with the staff of foreign waiters explaining the wines from their respective countries. Yah, but — like — who was there for the California wines?	Cyndi was a star student, taking this maybe a little too seriously. She learned that wine tasting is a multi-sensory experience, from feeling the temperature of the bottle, looking at the color and viscocity of the wine, smelling the bouquet, tasting the juice, and yes, listening to the clink of the glasses, below
	Cyndi and Mark are all over this part of the cruise
	Old hands at imbibing. Looks like it's time to cut Jamie off

	I don't know about you, but it looks to me like Cyndi is the alpha shopper, while Cherie is more the grazer and gazer. Below, Cyndi is definitely on a mission. You go, girls!
Disco Inferno

Cherie and cabin neighbor Donna take to the dance floor
Cherie and Cyndi shake their assets	Mark and Cyndi listen to Lawrence Welk in their heads

Continue on to Ketchikan Or Return to Skagway

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